Exercise Benefits Something More Than Your Body And Physical Health

IN YOUR DAILY DOSE: is research that demonstrates a benefit of exercise you may not have guessed.

MAKING CHANGES: Today we’ll give you strategies to help start a program you can stick with.

FACT OR FICTION: Reader’s Digest aptly named a column in their magazine many years ago. Although it was just a title, it turns out that it was rather prophetic.

In The News

Mounting evidence from researchers demonstrates that exercise is not only good for your body, but also for you brain. Although the link is not well understood, they believe it might be a product of our history as hunter-gatherers.

Exercise improves not only your mood, but also the structure and function of your brain.

Exercise benefits you, your brain and your children. Today is the day to get started!

Making Changes

Including an exercise program in your daily routine may be challenging - especially as most people say the reason they don’t exercise is because they don’t have enough time in their day. However, you don’t have to go to the gym, buy expensive equipment or take hours out of your day to accomplish your goals.

Here are a few tips to get you started:

Have a reason you want to start exercising - but pay attention to how you feel while you’re exercising and after you’re done. Studies show that your extrinsic reason for exercise - your reason why - may help you get started but won’t keep you going. People who recognize how much better they feel after the workout, and recognize the benefits they experience, are the people who keep going.

Exercise can be as simple as a 20 minute walk after dinner each night, or training for a triathlon. The choice is yours.

it’s important to NOT overdo it nor set goals you’ll never achieve. You may want to complete a marathon - but start by walking, then a one mile run, then a 3K and onward. Start with what you know you can achieve and continue to set your goals higher and higher.

Pay attention to how your body feels during and after your workout - don’t workout past pain that is more than tired muscles. You won’t gain anything except an injury that sidelines you for weeks.

Consider small pieces of equipment for your home - jump rope, rebounder, rowing machine, small indoor bike - to help change what you’re doing each day without having to go to the gym.

Look for body weight exercise videos on YouTube - you won’t have to go to the gym to get in your strength training. You have everything you need at home.

Daily Affirmation

I carefully consider my options when making important decisions.I arrive at decisions only after careful thought. My well-being and future deserve proper planning and consideration.

Fact or Fiction?

Reader’s Digest had it right all those years they ran their “Laughter is the Best Medicine” column. Laughing does more than just make you feel good. It can lower your blood pressure, reduce your levels of cortisol (stress hormone), fun exercise for your abs, improves your cardiac health, boosts your T-cells that supports your immune system, and triggers the release of endorphins or painkillers in your body. So, the next time you pass up a good comedy show, think twice - laughter really is good medicine.